The Incredible Sitting Sam

So, I do plan on posting a Part II to ‘Going Green’, but in the meantime I have to give this quick update on Sam because I’m just so happy about it. He’s officially sitting up really well! He’s been sitting up for awhile, but in the super wobbly face planting sort of way. He’s still slightly unstable (I blame it on the chub), but he’s doing great! I’m really excited about this. Every little milestone is like a surprise party in our house – it’s great.

Last week we bought Sam an exersaucer and a bigger car seat. The need for more space is becoming increasingly apparent with each new gizmo. I mean, look at the size of this thing!

But it’s worth it because Sam really enjoys it, and I enjoy the few minutes of peace of mind it gives me – knowing I can run and put the laundry in the dryer and not come back to find that he’s made his way over to the tv and pulled all of the DVDs off of the shelves. The child amazes me in his ability to get places whilst not yet crawling, and at lightning speed. He could be an Olympic roller-around-er, no doubt about it. I know the mobile days of crawling and walking are just around the corner and I ain’t seen nothing yet. I'm sure the seasoned Moms out there are chuckling to themselves. So for now, I’m basking in the sitting – both on the floor all by himself, and bound in the ginormous exersaucer.

Going Green (or attempting to) Part I

I enjoy reading blogs where people share what they’re doing to be green and/or frugal (like passionatehomemaking or frugalgranola) and while I’m nowhere near where these ladies are in their efforts, or as hardcore about it, I thought it might be fun to post a few things we’re doing. Incidentally, my going green attempts are also money-saving options, which is nice these days since everyone can stand to save a little more moolah!

First off, and the thing most people think I’m crazy for, is that we use cloth diapers. Before you’re horrified, you should know that these aren’t your Grandma’s fold and pin cloth diapers. They’re actually very much like disposables except that you wash them. We use bumGenius one-size cloth diapers. You can check them out here. They have a snap system that allows them to grow with your child. They’re supposed to last all the way up through potty-training. Since Sam is, as my Mom lovingly refers to him, our little giant baby, he may outgrow them before he’s to the potty training stage, but I’m hoping they’ll get us close. We really love them. Mike even likes them, and it took some major convincing to get him to go for it. I think Sam looks super cute in them, too!

I also use cloth wipes. This is much easier than it sounds. I have a wipes warmer that I fill up halfway with my wipes solution (just a squirt of baby wash, a tiny bit of Burt’s Bees apricot baby oil, and a drop or two of tea tree oil, all mixed with warm water) and then I put a stack of folded baby washcloths in and let them soak up the mixture. The warmer keeps them nice and fresh and warm. I like to think Sam appreciates it! :) This really is easier for me than using disposable wipes because I can just throw everything into my diaper pail and wash it together, rather than having to separately trash the wipe and put the diaper in a different container.

Since this post is already getting long, I’ll just mention one other thing. I’ve been trying my hand at making my own “green” cleaning products. Plain old distilled white vinegar is a great cleaning product because it is a natural disinfectant. You can use it full strength for tough jobs, or dilute it with water for everyday clean-ups. The smell can be pretty strong, though. One thing I’ve tried that works well is to place the peel from an orange in a jar with vinegar (about a cup and a half per orange peel) and leave it in your pantry for a couple of weeks, giving it an occasional shake. Then, after 2 weeks or so, just strain the vinegar out into a jar and you’ve got orange infused vinegar that smells pretty good. I dilute this about half and half with water in a spray bottle and use it for most of my cleaning. There’s still a slight vinegar smell while you use it, but that smell dissipates as it dries and you’re left with a fresh orange scent. You can also use lemon peel, or combine the two. I’ve also been trying out some other cleaning product recipes, and I’ll update you with ones I wind up liking (if anyone is interested, that is!).

I’d love to hear your ideas for being green and frugal!

The First Days of Spring in Oklahoma

You know you live in Oklahoma when the beginning of Spring weather is beautiful, sunny and warm, and the next day there is snow on the ground. We didn’t have a whole lot stick here by our house, but not far away there was as much as 6 inches on the ground!

Because we were mainly stuck inside this weekend, we decided to make the most of it and start some packing. It’s always amazing to me how much stuff we accumulate. We ended up finding lots of old pictures and some letters that Mike and I wrote to each other back when we were dating. It was fun to be reminded of those times and how they got us to where we are today. And how our hair is so much better now. And our eyebrows… but I should only speak for myself.

On a random note, we also rented ‘Twilight’ this weekend. Any of you seen that? I guess my expectations were too high for the movie. I was expecting more of an epic type film but it seemed more cheesy and over-dramatically acted to me… what did you guys think? Maybe I’m just too harsh a critic. In any case, I’m sure the books are better.

Another random thing - per Mel's request (and because I think any blog is way more interesting with some type of picture) - here are a couple of current pics of me and Mike. Honest to goodness, these are the only current pics I can find of either of us because we only take pictures of Sam these days. And I couldn't find ANY pictures of the two of us together. I'm going to have to work on getting better pictures for updating!

I hope ya’ll are enjoying the beginning of Springtime!

Here We Go!

I'm totally giving in to the blogging pressure! A lot of my friends and family are doing it, and I love keeping up with what's going on in their lives this way, so I figured I could try my hand at it. I'm pretty bad about updating things like myspace or webshots, but I am hoping that this will provide an easier, better all around format for little updates. Here's hoping!

A quick update on us:

Sam just turned 7 months old. I can't believe how quickly it has gone! Lord be praised, he is pretty much sleeping through the night now and in turn, his Momma is regaining some semblance of sanity. He's also been eating "solid" food for a few weeks now, and it is a big heap of fun and mess. We've started him on some green veggies. He'll eat it, but he's not a fan. Clearly, he takes after me.

For good measure, and to show how cute and sweet he really is, I'll go ahead and post this pic too. Is he handsome or what?

I am loving staying home with Sam. It is an absolute joy. A lot of work - harder than any other job I've ever had - but wonderful. I'm trying to soak in these 'baby days', because I'm already seeing how fast the time flies when they are little. I'm so grateful for a husband who is on board with me and supportive of me staying home with him. I am so blessed! Speaking of awesome husbands - Mike is doing well. He's still with MidFirst and his job is going well these days. He's also leading worship at the church on Wednesday nights and we lead a small group on Sunday nights, which we love. He stays pretty busy!

One other thing of note for my first "quick" update - we just signed the papers a few weeks ago to build a new house. We LOVE our current home, and I will probably cry when we leave (and have a sit-down talk with the buyers that they'd better treat her well or else..), but we are just plain running out of space and through much prayer, we think it's the right time to move on. So take heart, friends and family! When you come to visit in a few months, you might just have room to put your bag down AND have walking room to your bed. If you think that's fancy, you might also have a place to hang a shirt or two in the closet and not worry about all of the Christmas ornaments and piles of old college books collapsing on them. Woohoo!